Lecture 1 Review of Classes

1. Lecture 1Review of Classes Richard Gesick

2. Topics • Defining a Class • Defining Instance Variables • Writing Methods • The Object Reference this • ThetoString and equals Methods • static Members of a Class • Graphical Objects • enum Types • Documentation Using Javadoc

3. Why User-Defined Classes? Primitive data types (int, double, char, .. ) are great … … but in the real world, we deal with more complex objects: products, websites, flight records, employees, students, .. Object-oriented programming enables us to manipulate real-world objects.

4. User-Defined Classes • Combine data and the methods that operate on the data • Advantages: • The class methods are responsible for the validity of the data. • Implementation details can be hidden. • A class can be reused. • Client of a class • A program that instantiates objects and calls the methods of the class

5. Syntax for Defining a Class accessModifier class ClassName { // class definition goes here } ***Note that the curly braces are required.

6. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TIP Use a noun for the class name. Begin the class name with a capital letter.

7. Important Terminology • Fields • instance variables: the data for each object • class data: static data that all objects share • Members • fields and methods • Access Modifier • determines access rights for the class and its members • defines where the class and its members can be used

8. Access Modifiers

9. public vs. private • Classes are usually declared to be public. • Instance variables are usually declared to be private. • Methods that will be called by the client of the class are usually declared to be public. • Methods that will be called only by other methods of the class are usually declared to be private. APIs of methods are published (made known) so that clients will know how to instantiate objects and call the methods of the class.

10. Defining Instance Variables Syntax: accessModifierdataTypeidentifierList; dataTypecan be primitive data type or a class type identifierList can contain: • one or more variable names of the same data type • multiple variable names separated by commas • initial values • Optionally, instance variables can be declared as final.

11. Examples of Instance Variable Definitions private String name = ""; private final int PERFECT_SCORE = 100, PASSING_SCORE = 60; private intstartX, startY,width, height;

12. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TIP Define instance variables for the data that all objects will have in common. Define instance variables as private so that only the methods of the class will be able to set or change their values. Begin the instance variable identifier with a lowercase letter and capitalize internal words.

13. The Auto Class public class Auto { private String model; private intmilesDriven; private double gallonsOfGas; } The Auto class has three instance variables: model, milesDriven, and gallonsOfGas.

14. Writing Methods Syntax: accessModifierreturnTypemethodName( parameter list ) // method header { // method body } parameter list is a comma-separated list of data types and variable names. • to the client, these are arguments • to the method, these are parameters The parentheses are required even if the method takes no parameters. **Note that the method header is the method’s API.

15. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TIP Use verbs for method names. Begin the method name with a lowercase letter and capitalize internal words.

16. Method Return Types • The return type of a method is the data type of the value that the method returns to the caller. The return type can be any of Java's primitive data types, any class type, or void. • Methods with a return type of void do not return a value to the caller.

17. Method Body • The code that performs the method's function is written between the beginning and ending curly braces. • Unlike if statements and loops, these curly braces are required, regardless of the number of statements in the method body. • In the method body, a method can declare variables, call other methods, and use any of the program structures we've discussed, such as if/else statements, while loops, for loops, switch statements, and do/while loops.

18. main is a Method public static void main( String [] args ) { // application code } Let's look at main'sAPI in detail: publicmain can be called from outside the class. (The JVM calls main.) staticmain can be called by the JVM without instantiating an object. void main does not return a value String [] argsmain's parameter is a String array

19. Value-Returning Methods • Use a return statement to return a value • Syntax: return expression; Note: All possible execution paths in the method must return a value. Thus, a method can have multiple return statements.

20. Constructors • Special methods that are called automatically when an object is instantiated using the new keyword. • A class can have several constructors. • The job of the class constructors is to initialize the instance variables of the new object.

21. Defining a Constructor Syntax: public ClassName( parameter list ) { // constructor body } Note: constructors have no return value, not even void! • Each constructor must have a different number of parameters or parameters of different types. Default constructor: a constructor that takes no arguments.

22. Default Initial Values If the constructor does not assign values to the instance variables, they receive default values depending on the instance variable’s data type.

23. Common Error Trap Do not specify a return value for a constructor (not even void). Doing so will cause a compiler error in the client program when the client attempts to instantiate an object of the class.

24. Class Scope • Instance variables have class scope, meaning that: • A constructor or method of a class can directly refer to instance variables. • Methods also have class scope, meaning that: • A constructor or method of a class can call other methods of a class (without using an object reference).

25. Local Scope • A method's parameters have local scope,meaning that: • a method can directly access its parameters. • a method's parameters cannot be accessed by other methods. • A method can define variables which also have local scope, meaning that: • a method can access its local variables. • a method's local variables cannot be accessed by other methods.

26. Summary of Scope • A method in a class can access: • the instance variables of its class • any parameters sent to the method • any variables the method declares from the point of declaration until the end of the method or until the end of the block in which the variable is declared, whichever comes first • any methods in the class

27. Accessor Methods Clients cannot directly access private instance variables, so classes provide publicaccessor methods with this standard form: public returnTypegetInstanceVariable( ) { return instanceVariable; } (returnTypeis the same data type as the instance variable)

28. Accessor Methods Example: the accessor method for model public String getModel( ) { return model; }

29. Mutator Methods Mutator methods allow the client to change the values of instance variables. They have this general form: public void setInstanceVariable(dataTypenewValue ) { // if newValue is valid, // assign newValue to the instance variable }

30. Mutator Methods Example: the mutator method for milesDriven public void setMilesDriven( intnewMilesDriven ) { if ( newMilesDriven >= 0 ) milesDriven = newMilesDriven; else { System.err.println( "Miles driven " + "cannot be negative." ); System.err.println( "Value not changed." ); } }

31. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING TIP Write the validation code for the instance variable in the mutator method and have the constructor call the mutator method to validate and set initial values. This eliminates duplicate code and makes the program easier to maintain.

32. Common Error Trap Do not declare method parameters. Parameters are already defined and are assigned the values sent by the client to the method. Do not give the parameter the same name as an instance variable. The parameter has name precedence so it "hides" the instance variable. Do not declare a local variable with the same name as an instance variable. Local variables have name precedence and hide the instance variable.

33. Data Manipulation Methods Perform the "business" of the class. Example: a method to calculate miles per gallon: public double calculateMilesPerGallon( ) { if ( gallonsOfGas != 0.0 ) return milesDriven / gallonsOfGas; else return 0.0; }

34. The Object Reference this • How does a method know which object's data to use? • this is an implicit parameter sent to methods. this is an object reference to the object for which the method was called. • When a method refers to an instance variable name, this is implied. Thus, variableName is understood to be this.variableName Example: model is understood to be this.model

35. Using this in a Mutator Method public void setInstanceVariable( dataTypeinstanceVariableName ) { this.instanceVariableName = instanceVariableName; } Example: public void setModel( String model ) { this.model = model; } this.model refers to the instance variable. model refers to the parameter.